Not only did Esethu Mcinjana spend Sunday night in a police cell, she missed her job interview and a chance at employment. Photo: Ella Ndongeni/GroundUp

VIDEO: Locked up overnight after taking selfies on Sea Point promenade

By Ella Ndongeni May 24, 2019

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Cape Town - A 23-year-old Blue Downs woman is considering suing the police after being arrested while sitting on a bench in Sea Point and then being locked in a cell for the night.

Esethu Mcinjana was in Sea Point on Sunday 19 May for a job interview at a hotel at 10:45am. She arrived early for the interview and went to sit on a bench on the promenade to wait.

“I pressed the buzzer when I arrived but no one responded so I went to sit on a bench overlooking the beach.”

She said she was taking selfies at about 9:20am when she was approached by a police officer who asked her what she was doing there.

“Her tone was aggressive. I explained to her that I was there for an interview but was early. She didn’t believe me and said there are no interviews on a Sunday.”

“She grabbed my bag and started searching it, throwing my things on the ground. My CV, a few of my toiletries and my house keys were in the bag,” said Mcinjana.

She took a video which clearly shows the police officers who were searching her bag, a Sergeant Smith and Constable Prince.

Esethu Mcinjana shot this video while her bag was being searched by Sergeant Smith and Constable Prince.

She says Smith found her house keys with a gate remote switch in the bag. Smith is heard saying in Afrikaans on the video, “I found what I need to.”

Mcinjana said she was accused of being a robber. “She said I used the remote to rob people’s cars. I tried to explain that the remote wasn’t even working but I was using it as a key holder.”

Smith called a police van on her radio, took Mcinjana’s phone and made her get into the van. She said she was taken to Sea Point police station, handcuffed and shouted at by Smith, photographed and fingerprinted and then put into a cell.

“I tried to show the police officer the email that shows I was there for an interview but she didn’t listen to me. She just put me in a holding cell,” said Mcinjana.

She says she was only given her phone at 4pm to tell her mother where she was.

She was told she was a suspect in car break-ins. The police still have her gate remote and keys.

Mcinjana said some of the officers at the station told her that the way she was being treated was wrong.